Beyond the 52
by Darth Yoshi
Summary: DC reintroduced the multiverse, but limited it. These are the tales of those worlds that have yet to be rediscovered. Based on the previous writings of Christopher W. Blaine.
1. Chapter 1

Beyond the 52 Chapter 1 "Origin"

By Christopher W. Blaine

DISCLAIMER: This work of fiction contains characters and situations that are ©2008 by DC Comics Inc. and Christopher W. Blaine. DC Comics has not given permission for the use of their characters or situations. This work is done for fan entertainment only. This original story is ©2008 by Christopher W. Blaine.

**The story thus far…**

Years ago, the time-traveling villain known as the Time-Guardian enlisted the aid of Extant in order to try and recreate the Crisis event. It was revealed that the Time-Guardian was actually the Roy Harper of Earth-2, a world that had existed before the Crisis. Blaming God for his situation and the loss of his world, Harper used his magically-based powers, which he inherited by accident, to travel through Hypertime where he murdered his duplicates.

Finally, he gathered together villains from the pre-Crisis universe, using his powers to pluck them from the time stream, and with this army he assaulted the true Roy Harper and killed him. By killing Harper before he was destined to die, the Time-Guardian managed to exploit the hole caused in the space-time continuum and he pulled the Crisis wave through.

A new universe was created, but while trying to make his own order, the Time-Guardian had managed to also build some chaos. In the non-dimension of Limbo, Abel, keeper of the House of Secrets, jumbled together a group heroes that should had never existed. He put them on the Time-Guardian's world, hoping they would be able to set things correct. Led by the Kryptonian super-hero Nightwing, this group, called the Time-Wardens, destroyed the Time-Guardian's Crisis engine, which should have restored the universe.

It did, but not without a wrinkle.

The Time-Trapper, a villain from the 3oth century, wanted to see how the scenario would play out and created a pocket dimension to hold the Time-Guardian's universe. While life went on there, a hole in Limbo was allowing criminals from various ages and realities to spill out into the real world. The Justice League found itself leading a fight against a more powerful enemy.

War was breaking out in all dimensions but the cause of good was not without its champions.

At a critical juncture, the original Superman arrived with Alexander Luthor in tow. They aided the Time-Wardens in defeating the Time-Guardian and sent him to the Speed Force where he would do no more harm. The universe was set right and the pocket dimension continued to exist. Superman and Luthor returned to their banishment outside of time, with nobody realizing the consequences of all of these actions.

Nobody could have guessed the eventual harm that would arise from this event of heroism.

On Earth-T, the name given to the world in the pocket universe, the newly-christened Wardens did their best to serve the cause of justice. Their membership fluctuated slightly as they continued to protect the innocent from the Legion of Doom, led by Dominus, an alternate version of Lex Luthor. Adventure after adventure molded them into first a team, then a fighting force and finally a family.

Inside the Speed Force, the Time-Guardian could tell something was happening, but he was not sure what. He tried to use his powers to see the future, but it was not possible. Instead, he could sense the fabric of magic being altered. Unknown to him at the time, Alexander Luthor had instigated the Infinite Crisis, his mind warped by the dreams of power that had first gripped him when he had confronted the Time-Guardian.

Superboy-Prime, Luthor's main accomplice, was sent to be imprisoned in the Speed Force by the Flash and Kid Flash. The young powerhouse would eventually prove to be more than what the Speed Force could handle and the Time-Guardian was able to escape. His imprisonment, however, had given the villain a long time to consider things and he emerged a very different person.

**Luthor's base of operations, the Arctic, Earth**

"You stole my ideas," the Time-Guardian said as he slowly approached Luthor. Both were clad in armor, Luthor's golden while the former Speedy's was crimson. "But you didn't learn my lessons."

Luthor did not turn around; he considered the Time-Guardian nothing more than a nuisance, a man of limited vision and ability. Had he truly been worthy of ruling the universe then he would have won when he tried. "Is there something that you wanted before I destroyed your little pocket universe?"

"If you can, you mean," was the quick, smirking response. "I don't think you'll win."

"You won't know because you will be dead, or I should say, wiped from existence as you should have been from the beginning. Your powers will soon fade because this age of magic, the age that granted you your abilities…"

The Time-Guardian cut him off. "I am fully aware of your manipulations of the Spectre. That would have been more impressive had he been grafted to a living host." The supposed angel of holy vengeance had been running amok during the Infinite Crisis, crushing sources of magic. Free magic was going to power Luthor's machine for creating a new universe. "It still won't help."

"Did you know you weren't the only one to survive the Crisis from your world? Power Girl is here," Luthor said, pointing up. A tower, constructed from the remains of the Anti-Monitor, stood before them. Several beings were strapped to the tower, like captive ornaments on a Christmas tree of death. One was an attractive, buxom blond in a white costume.

The woman was Kara Zor-L, the cousin of the Superman of Earth-2, who had been the man who had helped stop the Time-Guardian. In another time and place, he and her would have been good friends, maybe even teammates in the Justice Society. "You could have taken her as a mate."

"I got the hint that you were the one with a thing for her," he told him.

Luthor shrugged. "I have little time to think about sex, but if I were inclined to participate in it…"

"She would most likely kill you," The Time-Guardian laughed. "You are a Luthor, not a Superman. You lack the…"

Luthor whirled around, hatred in his eyes. "You insect! You would dare mock me? I am a god compared to you!"

"I don't think so," the Time-Guardian said cryptically, his eyes flashing with small, blue electrical discharges. They were signs of the magical energies that flowed through him. "I redesigned reality once while you are still trying. That's because despite your intelligence, you have no imagination! You never lived in the real world, Alex; you don't have a clue what good and evil are."

Alex turned back around and stuck his hands into a holographic projection of multiple earths. He grabbed two of them and smashed them together, merging the realities into one.

**New Earth-342**

Sister Helena Joan Bertinelli jumped high and to the left as another vampire hissed and clawed at the spot she had been standing in. Behind her, Green Lantern used his power ring to shove back three werewolves that were attacking with equal ferocity. The Justice League had found this nest of the monsters quite by accident; they had been on the trail of the Scarecrow, a priest of a pagan religion that had been committing several human sacrifices in Metropolis.

"Hal, watch your back!" Green Arrow called out, letting loose with a wooden arrow. The shaft pierced the heart of the vampire that had been attacking Helena, even as she landed and rolled away. She came up face to face with another vampire. The creature screamed and bared bloody fangs at her. She hesitated for a moment; she did not want to kill the creature.

But, she had been trained to do so by the Vatican and despite the fact that she felt great sympathy for the monster, she was not about to let it kill her. In one movement she threw back her purple cloak to reveal her golden crucifix. The vampire immediately shied away even as twin beams of crimson burned their way through its skull, boiling the ichor within and causing it to explode.

Super-Woman landed and fired off another blast of heat vision at a vampire that was armed with a golden sword. The sword was meant for the preoccupied Green Lantern, but by the time it reached his back, it was nothing but yellow steam. "Thanks, Karen," Green Lantern grinned as he turned to face his foe. "I think I can handle it from here!"

Green Arrow, from his relatively safe spot on top of some crates, fired two more times before calling out that he was out of ammo. "We've hit the mother load here!"

Helena shook her head. "This isn't right, there are too many of them here! They were waiting for us!"

"Watch and learn," Luthor commanded as he reached for another world. His machine, which allowed him to pull realities out of the nothingness, was also giving him the ability to merge them.

Behind him, the Time-Guardian said nothing, but crept slowly towards his foe.

**New Earth-1232A**

Super-Woman looked up and wiped a small trace of blood from her broken lip. Above her, three hundred and fifty pounds of flesh, stuffed into an entirely too small red and gold swimsuit, stood at the ready. In Wonder Woman's hand was a blueberry fruit pie, which had contributed to the cyan hue of her tongue. "So skinny, baby needs to eat," the obese Amazon said, waggling her tongue as she looked underneath Super-Woman's miniskirt.

"Burn," Super-Woman said as she fired off a lethal blast of her heat vision. Too many members of the Justice League had succumbed to the lure of the dessert treats. Wonder Woman and Black Canary had been the first to fall and Super-Woman was sure that the Legion of Doom was behind the plot. The sugars that the women had consumed had destroyed their bodies, ruined their teeth and had rotted their brains.

The beams of light struck Wonder Woman in one of her fleshy chins and the smell of burning fruit filled the air. Liquid fat boiled and rolled down the front of her gargantuan breasts as she screamed in pain and fell back. Vampires, weak from the battle with the other heroes, fell upon her and sunk their teeth into her ample flesh.

Hawkgirl spit on the floor and threw her mace in frustration from her perch on top of some crates. "Nobody will come up here to fight me!" she said with anger.

Green Lantern laughed and used his power ring to create a giant fist that punched through a nearby wall. As it crumbled, he picked up the sight of their quarry. "Got the Scarecrow, who wants him?"

Helena jumped past him, her crossbow in her hand. "Hawkgirl is with me!"

"You're building Fat Chick World! So what?" the Time-Guardian taunted.

"I'm not trying to recreate this reality," Luthor answered him. "I'm going to horribly distort yours and then destroy it with a squeeze of my fist!"

Three more blue globes were pulled out of the stew and slapped into the one he had already created. Like a stark raving mad chef, he tossed ingredients into the pot with no regard for measurement, taste or consistency.

**New Earth 3458Q**

"It's over Scarecrow," Batwoman said. Behind her the extended "Bat Family" stood ready to leap to her aid. Next to them stood the members of the Justice Guild of America. The Scarecrow and his allies in the Crime Syndicate had gone too far this time. Hundreds of innocent people had been infected with a lycanthropy virus that had turned them all into Man-Bats. The ensuring chaos had allowed the free members of the Syndicate to stage a jail break from the maximum security facility called the Watchtower. "Surrender now and tell us where the rest of your friends are at?"

The Scarecrow cackled. "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you because now all of you will have to look over your shoulders, wondering where we will strike next!"

Super-Woman folded her arms across her chest. "We're not afraid, Dr. Crane."

"You will be!"

**Luthor's base of operations, the Arctic, Earth**

"Now, your world dies and its pocket dimension dissolve away," Luthor threatened.

"No, it doesn't," the Time-Guardian responded. In an instant, he turned his powers inward, enveloping his body in magical energies. He flashed into pure magical energy as he surrendered his body to the cosmos. This had been his plan all along.

Once he realized what Luthor had been doing, that he was making the same attempts to recreate reality as he had, the Time-Guardian had put his own plans into motion. His incarceration had given him time to think about his crimes and his reasons. Somehow, he had let himself go astray, but that had really been putting it mildly. He had become everything he had been raised to fight.

He didn't want to die that way.

So, he reasoned the one thing he could do to try and make up for the billions of murders he had committed was to save the universe that he had helped bring into existence. To protect it from what Luthor had planned, he needed a magic shield. The problem was that the Spectre was going around destroying all of the magic.

The only thing he had left was himself.

A flash of blue lightning struck Luthor's hand and he dropped the created world back into the maelstrom that was before him. The lightning did not burn him, but it startled him and he jumped back, cursing. He looked into the mass of earths, trying to find the one he had been looking for, but then he realized there was no time. "Fine, let it reside in its own little closet. After I am successful in this venture, I will come back and deal with that detail."

Luthor turned away for a moment to check on his tower. Ha he remained at his console, he would have witnessed a startling site as blue magical energy jumped from world to world, causing them to split and merge, spin and leap. Some worlds exploded, others sped off into the hidden corners of the view screen, unable to be seen.

And briefly, there seemed to be the sound of a young boy laughing with joy.

'I'm coming home, Ollie! I'm coming home!"


	2. Chapter 2

Beyond the 52 Issue 2

Beyond the 52 Issue 2  
By Christopher W. Blaine

DISCLAIMER: This work of fiction contains characters and situations that are ©2008 by DC Comics Inc. and Christopher W. Blaine. DC Comics has not given permission for the use of their characters or situations. This work is done for fan entertainment only. This original story is ©2008 by Christopher W. Blaine.

The story thus far…

The Infinite Crisis is over. Superboy-Prime has been defeated and is imprisoned on Oa by the reformed Green Lantern Corps. Alexander Luthor has been murdered by the Joker. The original Superman from Earth-2 has died a heroic death. The Time-Guardian has sacrificed himself to save the pocket dimension he helped to create.

A new Earth has been formed from the realities of so many others. Gone are the Wardens who saved all of creation more than once. In their place stands the Justice Guild of America, a group dedicated to protecting the innocent citizens of the world from the combined might of the worst villains ever imagined.

These are their stories.

_**New Kids on the Block Part 1**_  
**  
Gotham City, New Jersey**

Batwoman raised her line gun and depressed the activation stud. Compressed gasses pushed a cylinder out that opened into a grappling hook halfway between the building she stood on and the next. It was something that she knew how to do better than breathing, because it was the first thing her father taught her.

Helena Wayne was a beautiful woman by any standard. Both of her parents had been athletic and attractive and their genetic combination had produced an even more appealing offspring. Had she chosen to do so, Helena could have been the darling of Gotham Society, but fate would have her travel a different path. Her father had been the Batman, the protector of the city, a city she had grown to love just as much as he had.

In her mid-teens, she had begun her crime fighting career as the Huntress, foregoing the tradition of becoming Robin. To her, Robin would always be male and she did not want there to be any confusion in that aspect. She was a woman and proud of it.

Swinging across to the next building, she saw that several members of her "family" were gathered already. Gotham City never had just one protector; ever since men and women began putting on garish costumes and masks in order to battle injustice, they had always managed to have allies in their efforts. In the so-called Golden Age it was Green Lantern, Black Canary and Johnny Thunder. Decades later it was Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Black Lightning to name a few.

Now she was the top dog, or bat of you preferred. She knew that the city was far too big for one person to carry on her father's mission and vision. Landing, she straightened up and proceeded to where her hook had latched so she could retrieve it. Conversations stopped and her team began to form around her.

First there was Nightwing. Tall and muscular, with definite youth to his features, he was by far one of the more experienced members gathered. Jason Todd was technically her brother as he had been adopted by Bruce Wayne years ago, but she did not consider him so. She could not put her finger on it, but their relationship was different than what one would have expected.

Jason had taken over from Dick Grayson, who was now Batman, when he felt like it. Dick had decided to pursue justice from a different perspective and was instead heading up a dozen charities in the name of the Wayne Foundation. Years of battling the forces of evil had not dampened his spirits, but when he had seen how Helena had blossomed from sidekick to hero, he understood that Gotham was in capable hands.

There was no Robin now, but there was a Batgirl. Kathy Kane was a beautiful young lady who had shown she could give and take a punch with the best of them. Her mother, Francis, had tried to win the affections of the original Batman years ago, but nothing ever came of it. She stood next to Nightwing with an expression of youthful exuberance.

Inwardly, Batwoman smiled because she was thinking about how young these two were when the truth was she wasn't much older than them. However, being raised by Bruce and Selina Wayne and the expectation they had for their children was enough to make anyone old.

"Do you have the voting results?" the Huntress asked. Batwoman regarded the woman who had taken up her old name. By coincidence they had the same first name, but Helena Bertinelli, who went by her chosen baptismal name of Joan, was not at all like her. Joan had been the daughter of a Gotham City mob boss that had been murdered along with the rest of her family. She had been taken and placed in a Catholic orphanage to be raised.

In her early teens, Joan had been taken to Italy where she was inducted into the Titans, a Vatican-backed super-team that dealt with supernatural threats to mankind. Specifically, Joan had been trained to fight vampires, but a chance encounter with a master vampire had changed her. Her metagene had been activated and perverted by a psychic link with the undead. Joan claimed that it was only her faith and the guidance of the Virgin Mother that kept her from sliding into a world of darkness and debauchery.

She had left the Titans because she could not continue fulfilling her vows. Now she lived in her city of birth, working to make it a better place. "Yes, the votes are in," Batwoman answered as she returned her equipment to their proper places on her utility belt.

Black Robin stayed in the background, as she normally did. A more reluctant member of the team, she had spent years working alone and on the very thin edge between law and vigilantism. Batwoman was not quite sure that she had not crossed that line once or twice. A former prostitute, Cheryl Montgomery was a true mystery to Batwoman; not even Dick Grayson had been able to dig anything up on her. However, Helena Wayne had a lot of resources to expend and she had one of the best private investigators in the world looking into the matter.

"Me, Nightwing and Huntress are in," Batwoman told them. She hated seeing the look of rejection on Batgirl's face, but there was nothing she could do about it. The Justice Guild of America was akin to a union for super-heroes. Every three years all members voted for who the active membership would be. Batgirl was hoping to be accepted, but Batwoman had known it would be a long shot.

Batgirl was still inexperienced and unknown to many members of the super-hero community and Batwoman wondered if that was partially her fault. More than once she had considered putting forth the backing needed to start a group for the younger heroes, so they could be trained properly and get exposure. Because Batgirl had been a minor at the time of the voting, she was ineligible for membership. She had hoped that she would at least be considered for active reserve status.

Unfortunately, as Batwoman had tried to explain, there were no active reserves in the JGA. "Titan made it as well, but I'll let his father tell him."

"Of course he did," Batgirl groused. "Look at his background and references!"

"You can't seriously be upset at Hip because of his parentage?" Nightwing asked.

Batgirl shook her head. "It's because I'm gay, isn't it?"

Nightwing slapped his forehead. "Not this again? Nobody cares that you like girls?"

Huntress put a reassuring hand on Batgirl's shoulder, but it did little to brighten the younger girl's mood. "Then why?"

"It's a vote, dear," Batwoman reminded her. "There is no why; there are only winners and losers."

"So, I'm a loser now?"

Batwoman did not know what else to say, so she let it drop. She noted a smile on Black Robin's face, but there was no surprise in that. The other hero seemed to enjoy seeing tension in the team. Batwoman said nothing to her because it would have done no good; Black Robin did not respond well to authority and only marginally considered herself a team player.

Huntress approached Batwoman and asked her to step to the side. When they were out of earshot, she spoke to her leader in low tones. "Have they decided the team leader?"

Batwoman sighed. "It's me with Super-Woman acting as vice-chair. I didn't want the job, but it was either me or Dark Flash, and Walter still needs to work on his people skills." She glanced back over to Batgirl, who was still being consoled by Nightwing. "You don't think anyone knows she's gay, do you?"

"She is young and full of love she wants to express; I don't agree with her preferences but I do respect her willingness to not hide who or what she is," Huntress explained. "She is strong and strong people do not like obstacles they cannot get around. For the next three years, she will have to work around this seemingly insurmountable one."

"How do you feel about being added?" Batwoman asked.

"I wanted a life of servitude," was the jovial reply. "I can be a slave to your leadership here or somewhere else, it doesn't matter."

"I'm not as bad as my father," Batwoman remarked.

"No, but are you as good?"

Batwoman gave Huntress a friendly punch in the arm. She liked the mobster's daughter, but wished she had a little more of a wild side. She could see the two of them in miniskirts and halter tops, hitting the clubs and breaking hearts; laughing all the way back to Wayne Manor for ice cream and romance movies.

She sighed. There would be no clubbing for her for at least another three years.

**St. Roch, Louisiana**

"I don't care what sort of interstellar, science fiction credentials you have, you winged son-of-a-bitch," the trooper began. "You cannot arrest someone in the name of Thanagar!"

Hawkman bristled at the law enforcement officer's language. "That is not what I said," the Winged Wonder attempted to explain as he wiped some blood from his mace. The rain was coming down pretty hard and the trooper's disposition had not gotten better with the cloudburst.

"What my partner is trying to say," an attractive woman in similar attire, only with skin the color of warm chocolate, interjected, "is that as a law enforcement official stationed on Earth from Thanagar, he has been trained in proper arrest techniques…"

"Listen, baby," the trooper said, waving his hand back to where a smashed up pickup truck sat, "I don't think beating the crap out of the suspect's vehicle after he has been taken into custody is within the state criminal code!"

"Baby?" Hawkgirl said, putting her hands on her hips. "Did you just call me…"

Hawkman put a restraining hand on her shoulder. His biceps flexed as he did so and the trooper noted, for the first time, exactly how big Hawkman was. His bare chest revealed a skin tone that was very, very tanned; as if he had come from the Middle East. Not the most enlightened person, as his sexist comments had proven, he wondered if the hero would kill him because of some perceived insult to his woman.

"Look," the trooper began as more officers showed up. He began to reason that it would be just best to end this once and for all. "I'm sure the local sheriff loves the work that you do, but we prefer to issue tickets to speeders instead of…this!"

"He was breaking the law. He refused to stop and when I warned him of possible action, he extended his middle finger at me," Hawkman told him. He let his hand drop from Hawkgirl's shoulder. " I then took action as a legally deputized county law enforcement agent."

"You can't smash up their car after they are apprehended!"

"I'll pay for it then," Hawkman replied with a wave of his hand.

The trooper bit his tongue, turned and stomped away. Hawkgirl glared at him and then turned to her partner. "You know he might be right," she said.

He shrugged. "Perhaps what the criminal element of this county need is a wake-up. Breaking the law and not suffering any consequences is simply ignorant. If you ever want to be considered a true Thanagarian police officer, you need to understand that."

She nodded. Six months earlier she had been simple Alaina Stone, niece of Victor Stone, a super-hero called Cyborg. She had been working as a model when she had encountered Hawkman and had realized that there was a whole universe out there for her to experience. He had taken her on as his partner, training in her in the ways of his people. "Are you really going to pay for the vehicle?"

He laughed. "No. Let him sue me."

"He'll sue the sheriff."

He took a deep breath and mentally calculated the expense. "Fine, but I protest it. Criminals should be punished, not paid."

"How about the punishment fitting the crime?" she asked as they both leapt into the air. Their wings flew open, stabilizing them even as the material their costumes were made out of allowed them to defy the effects of gravity.

"How about punishment for crime?" he responded.

She smiled; he was a good teacher, despite his black and white attitude about things. Perhaps that was what attracted her to him, professionally. Certainly he was good to look at as well and the fact that he was not in least bit modest had provided her ample opportunity to "size him up", as her girlfriends would say.

But he was her partner, not her lover. He was her friend, not her husband. She had to maintain that status quo if their partnership was going to work. It was damn shame, though, she told herself as she watched his chest move up and down as he breathed.

"You are aware that we have been accepted into the Justice Guild?" he asked her.

"Is that a good thing?" she asked.

He nodded. "It will give us more resources to use in my search for Fel Andar," he told her. "Above all else, we must never turn down an opportunity to get more information. He will be found and he will be brought to justice."

**Headquarters of the Secret Society of Super-Villains**

_Thomas, would you please attend me?_

Dr. Thomas Morrow pushed back the welding mask and shook his head. "Coming, Hector," he said aloud as he dropped his work. He looked down at the android body he had been working on and with a grimace of disgust, pulled off his welding gloves. He would get back to his work eventually, but the constant interruptions by his "leader" were starting to get annoying.

He stopped and counted to ten. Hector Hammond was more than the leader of the Society; he was also providing Morrow with the financial resources he needed to continue his work. His many felony convictions for everything from terrorism to attempted rape had drained him and only by agreeing to work for the Soceity could he hope to realize his dreams.

He walked briskly out of his lab and passed by a young, dark-haired woman in a revealing black skirt and blouse emblazoned with a golden lightning bolt. "Good morning, Wendy," he said to his teammate.

She gave him a nod, but that was all. Most people would have considered her a slut, because she was very "free" with herself with most men. Because she would not even give Morrow the time of day, he privately referred to her as "bitch". He only tolerated her because she could tear him in two with her bare hands.

_Please hurry, Thomas._

The mental command made his head ache, but it was the only way Hector could communicate. He had managed to get himself evolved into a being with a huge head and lifeless body. He could only speak with his powerful mind. That was why he needed Morrow so badly; he was to create an android body for Hector to become mobile in. The trick was creating one that would simulate all of the more pleasurable features of being able to move and feel.

He entered a room that contained a large chair in which the mutated body of Hector Hammond sat, being attended by various technicians and scientists that had performed some crimes in their pasts that had forced them into criminal servitude.

"I'm here, Hector," he announced.

_I am sorry to interrupt your work, but I thought you would like to know the Guild membership voting has concluded and the results have been announced._

Morrow held out hope that his finest creation, Tomorrow Woman, was among the heroes selected to man the guild for the next three years. She had disappeared two years before and he was confident the super-hero community knew where she was at.

_She is not among the candidates._

Morrow cursed. "They know where she is at!" he said, smashing a fist down on a control panel. "They are hiding my love from me!"

_Do you not find it strange that you are infatuated with a robot?_

Morrow gave him a wry look. "No," he answered flatly. Tomorrow Woman was perfect in her design. She was warm, covered with artificial flesh. She was soft in the right places with lips that were damp and full. "I made her to be my mate because I have issues with real women."

_Indeed. I wonder if all of us have flaws?_

"Of course we do, Hector; it's why we're criminals! I want to have sex with a robot. You want to be a robot having sex. Wendy is walking sexual anger. Don't even get me started on Scarecrow; he's a mass murderer who thinks Stalin was an underachiever!" He laughed aloud. It felt good to do so. "It is because of these things we will never fit into their society!"

_You are correct, my friend; the only thing we can do is change the society and make them the outcasts!_

"Which brings me to my next question: are we going to free Scarecrow from Arkham?" he asked. Morrow would have rather replaced him with someone else, but Hector seemed to like him.

I _have tasked Harley Quinn and Star Sapphire with the job. Once Stephen is safely here, we will begin reviewing our plans to see what we can do to distract the Justice Guild while we pursue our main activities!_

Morrow hated himself for the question he was about to ask, but it was what Hector was waiting for. "What main activities, Hector?"

_Why, try to take over the world!_


	3. Chapter 3

Beyond the 52 Issue 3

Beyond the 52 Issue 3  
By Christopher W. Blaine

DISCLAIMER: This work of fiction contains characters and situations that are ©2008 by DC Comics Inc. and Christopher W. Blaine. DC Comics has not given permission for the use of their characters or situations. This work is done for fan entertainment only. This original story is ©2008 by Christopher W. Blaine.

_**New Kids on the Block Part 2**_

**Davenport, Washington**

The small town, with a population that was about half of what was found on the typical aircraft carrier, was the seat of Lincoln County. Like most cities that were part of the upper western part of the country, the people were very familiar with the legend of Bigfoot. The primordial man-creature had been part of the local legend long before the town had been incorporated in 1890.

For the Lincoln County sheriff's office, investigating Bigfoot sightings were simply a diversion; nobody who wore a badge ever considered the stories about giant, furry beasts credible. Most likely it was a case of mistaken identity and what people actually saw was a bear. Still, it was their civic duty to look into all reports of hikers disappearing into the woods, and it did not matter that someone wanted to add Bigfoot to the mix as a sick punctuation mark.

Deputy Carl Johnson had three years on the force. Once he had been a punk kid in Seattle until a stint in the marines had taught him the value of standing up for an ideal. Once he had received his discharge, and after actually entertaining the idea of becoming a super-hero in the fashion of Batman, he instead went into law enforcement.

The report was that a hiker had gotten lost in the woods two days before in between Davenport and Reardan, so he got on Highway 3 heading east. It took him roughly 15 minutes to get to where the report had come in. On the side of the road he saw two expensive SUV's with Washington state plates. He rolled his eyes; too many people thought that because they came from the state they were automatically outdoorsmen! Probably a bunch of college kids from the "U of Dub" who had gotten drunk and taunted a grizzly!

Johnson pulled in behind the other vehicles and turned on his blue lights to warn oncoming traffic. He stepped out to be greeted by a light drizzle. A young woman approached him, a worried look on her face. "Officer! Officer!" she called.

Straightening his hat and holster, he put on his most professional face and listened as the woman described what had happened. Two days before, her boyfriend, an "experienced" outdoorsman from Tacoma, had come here to do some hiking. She was to join him the next day with the plan being they would camp out in the woods overnight.

"I started through the woods, entering over there," she told him, pointing to a spot where the trees just parted enough to reveal a woodland path. I was about a quarter mile in…we had just talked to each other on our cell phones," she explained, her eyes welling up with tears. "I couldn't find him and then I heard this awful, awful yelling…"

He didn't need to hear the rest of the story, though he found it a little difficult to believe that a bear had come so close to the highway. Normally they avoided this area, but it wasn't unheard of for them to be this close to traffic. He quickly put in a call to dispatch on what he had learned and requested that some rangers come out to give him some back-up.

It would be a few minutes and so he strolled over to the opening; he had no intention of marching through the woods if he did not have to. Let the rangers get muddy, he told himself. Besides, he did not relish the idea of seeing what was left of the hiker. He had seen what a bear could do before.

The path led deeper into the woods and he stepped in, his hand on his holster. A couple of yards in and he saw nothing out of the ordinary, but of course it was raining so a lot of evidence was already being washed away. He continued up the path until he was at the spot where the woman had stopped. He called out the man's name several times, identifying himself as a deputy sheriff.

There was no answer except for the rain hitting the ground.

Checking his watch, he estimated that it would be another minute or so before the rangers got there so he kept going up the path. As he stepped over a rise, he spotted something in the woods and moved closer. HE drew his weapon and released the safety, taking courage from the cold steel.

Then he saw what it was and started to immediately throw up.

**Hall of Justice, Happy Harbor, Rhode Island**

TROUBLE ALERT!

Batwoman looked up from the mess of paperwork that she was filling out in order to gaze at the 100" flat screen video monitor just above the main computer bank. The letters were blinking in red, indicating that she needed to get up and answer the summons.

She pressed a large green button and the words disappeared to be replaced by someone in a police uniform. The Trouble Alert system had been developed in the 1970's as a way for police agencies to contact the Justice Guild without delay. Over the years it had been upgraded with satellite links so that agencies and governments around the world had the same access.

"This is Batwoman, what's the situation?"

The man spoke with authority and urgency. "Batwoman, I'm Sheriff Duncan of Lincoln County, Washington. One of my deputies was investigating the disappearance of a hiker today when he came across something very strange."

"With all due respect, sheriff, wouldn't this be better investigated by the state police?" she asked. Behind her, Hawkman walked in, but said nothing.

"Normally I would be inclined to agree with you; I'm not exactly thrilled about asking you guys for help if you know what I mean," the sheriff admitted. It was common to find among law enforcement, especially in smaller towns, to feel a little embarrassed in asking for help from the Guild.

Hawkman moved forward. "Sheriff, I am Katar Hol, deputy sheriff in St. Roch County, Louisiana," he began, "you can rest assured that all of us are professionals here."

The sheriff seemed to relax a little and Batwoman was glad for it. Being the leader of the Guild was nerve-wracking because of all of the politics involved. No wonder her father had always refused the job! "My deputy found the hiker's mutilated body tossed inside a mass grave that held about ten others. Men, women and children and…and a robot."

"I'm sorry, did you say robot?" Batwoman asked.

"Yes, a naked one that looks like a very pretty woman, except where her arms and legs had been torn out."

**Outside Davenport, Washington**

It was refreshing not to have television camera crews surrounding them as they tried to get the full story from the police Batwoman noted. Hawkgirl was already chatting it up with the forensics team while the Dark Flash stood off to the side, scowling as he always did. The sheriff was a no-nonsense type of person when it came to his crime scenes and when a reporter tried to get too close, he was "persuaded" to move back by two very large deputies.

The other member of the team that was with them was her nephew, Titan. After getting the story again from the locals, Batwoman made her way over to a poorly constructed mass grave. The bodies in it were just piled on top of each other and she had to wonder if they were buried, or simply tossed in. She estimated there was more bodies than what the sheriff had stated and it made her stomach crawl.

The Dark Flash was next to her in the blink of an eye. His red and silver costume looking as out of place as her own red and yellow one. Neither was dressed for the woods that was for sure.

"You saw who the android was?" he asked. It was a rhetorical question. When she did not immediately answer, he did. "That was Tomorrow Woman. She was a friend of ours."

Two years before Tomorrow Woman had disappeared, but nobody had been sure if it was because of foul play or simply a choice. She had assisted the Justice Guild and several other heroes and was very popular. Everyone had liked her.

Nobody had known she was an android.

"We've taken custody of the body," she reminded him. "We will find out what this is all about."

"You and I both know that only Dr. Morrow and Will Magnus have the intellect to create such a life-like thing," he said and then caught himself. Walter West was a hard man, hardened by the loss of so many friends and loved ones in the pursuit of justice. He still had some feelings, despite the fact he tried to bury them beneath his tough-guy exterior. "Do you think any more of our friends are in there?" he asked.

She had not even thought about that. "I don't know."

Titan walked over to join in the discussion. He was a large man for his eighteen years, his hair in a large, black mohawk. His skin was olive colored and he spoke with a definite Mediterranean accent. The son of Dick Grayson and Donna Troy, he was half Amazon and all trouble to those who angered him. "Well, I think it is safe to say that Hawkgirl knows absolutely nothing about forensics," he told them.

"She's learning, Hip," Batwoman remarked. Hawkman had suggested that his partner take his place on this mission to get some experience. He had even offered to take the rest of Batwoman's monitor duty, which was music to her ears. He had mentioned something about doing some research with the computer. "What's your take?"

His father was now the Batman and Titan had been raised by his aunt, the legendary Wonder Woman, while his parents traveled the world, righting wrongs and such. The training he had received in crime fighting was second to none. Despite his obvious physical strength, he considered the power of his intellect to be his greatest asset. "These people were eaten by Bigfoot," he said, then he smiled despite the situation. That was one of his more endearing qualities: he could always be counted on to try and improve morale with a smile and a chuckle. "Actually, I'm wondering how long some of them have been here."

Batwoman nodded. "Body dump?"

Dark Flash had to admit it was a plausible explanation. "We do know that some of the more vicious members of Intergang were set up in Seattle for awhile." He was referring to an intergalactic organized crime syndicate that had been known to use Earth as a base of operations. "But you know as well as I do the Guild kicked them off planet…what…twelve years ago?"

"And Tomorrow Woman has only been missing for two…"

Titan looked at his aunt. "Maybe they came back. The last place you would look for them would be the place you last saw them. Super-Hero Murphy's Law."

Hawkgirl joined them and they moved away from the crime scene investigators so they could speak privately. There was no need for any of their theories to become front page news. "Let's review what we have, including any knowledge of the past," Batwoman announced.

"Washington state has very few instances of super-villain activity," Dark Flash began. He was the team history expert as he had been a fan of the Flash as a child and had amassed an encyclopedic knowledge of the activities of the "Golden Age" and "Silver Age" Guild. "It does have a long line of serial killer activity, though."

"And, as you just mentioned, it was a hub of Intergang activity just over a decade ago," Titan added. "The assumption is that Intergang was removed from the planet by the Guild, but we have no way of verifying that."

"Actually we do," Hawkgirl piped in. Everyone turned to regard her. "Remember, Hawkman is a galactic cop. He would probably be able to get us the latest information on Intergang."

"That would be helpful," Dark Flash told them. "If they are back, we need to kick their asses."

"Your eloquence is making this conversation so enlightening," Titan joked. Everyone smiled, except for Dark Flash. He saw nothing funny about kicking ass.

"Does anyone know why Tomorrow Woman would have been out here, or for that matter, any other hero?" Batwoman asked them. Was there any there anything going on here?"

There was a lot of silence. Finally, Titan broke it as he usually did. "I was sixteen two years ago and living in Greece with my aunt."

"I wasn't much older and I wasn't paying attention to super-hero news, unless it was about my uncle," Hawgirl told them.

Dark Flash sighed. "Two years ago…two years ago….I was finishing off the Rogues in Central City." That was an understatement Batwoman thought. The foes of the second Flash had decided to make an example of the Dark Flash by making his life hell. Captain Cold had murdered Linda Park, Dark Flash's girlfriend. That had changed him from being the third Flash into what he was now.

Captain Cold was now in a wheelchair. Heatwave was blind. The Weather Wizard was catonic. The Top had spent over a year in the hospital as his bones knitted back together.

Batwoman pulled out her Strawberry and used the direct-connect feature. "Hawkman here," a voice said.

Hawkgirl smiled slightly at the sound of her partner's voice. She was obviously enthused her suggestion was being used. "Hawkman, this is Batwoman; can you use the computer to look up any files that Tomorrow Woman accessed between 24 and 26 months ago and cross-check them to this area?"

"Working on it; I'll send the information through to you when I have it."

Batwoman acknowledged and put the communication device away in her utility belt. Tomorrow Woman had not been an official member of the Justice Guild, but she had worked with it. She had appeared out of nowhere, something of a cross between Superman and Wonder Woman. She was what a lot of people thought was the secret love child of the two heroes.

It bothered her that now, with the truth of Tomorrow Woman's true nature apparent, that she might have been nothing more than a spy for one of the Guild's enemies.

Then it hit her.

Could there be another robot in their midst?


	4. Chapter 4

**Beyond the 52 Issue 4**

By Christopher W. Blaine ()

DISCLAIMER: This work of fiction contains characters and situations that are 2008 by DC Comics Inc. and Christopher W. Blaine. DC Comics has not given permission for the use of their characters or situations. This work is done for fan entertainment only. This original story is 2008 by Christopher W. Blaine.

_New Kids on the Block Part 3_

_**Davenport, Washington**_

Dark Flash could not run at top speed through the forest out of fear of hitting a three hundred year old tree and knocking himself out. He wished he could move as fast as the rumors stated he could, or vibrate his molecules so that he could pass through them; that would make his search easier.

The truth was that he, and all of the speedsters that came before him, could only move around two hundred miles per hour at top speed. That was still fast, sure, but it was not the stiff of science fiction or comic books and he often felt cheated when he thought about it.

Then he would consider how his life had turned out and he felt even more cheated. The loss of Linda had been the final straw. He had loved his uncle Barry, the second Flash, but his nice guy way of dealing with criminals just didn't wash. Criminals wanted to hurt people and the only thing they truly understand was the language of pain.

He came to a stop and decided to take a break. He was hungry and he started to wonder why he didn't use a utility belt as it would have been perfect for carrying energy bars. All of his running used up a lot of energy, but he also didn't eat as much as he really should have. There was a theory being floated around by the super-hero scientists that the effects of the accident that gave him his powers had turned the Dark Flash into something more than human.

That did very little to improve his mood.

He pulled out his Strawberry and connected to Batwoman. "I can't find any evidence in a five mile radius of intelligent life. No cabins, no campsites…not even a stray beer can."

There was a pause. "Deputy Johnson says that is strange because the local high school kids like to go into the forest to get drunk and have sex."

"That's great," Dark Flash replied, pulling back his cowl so his forehead could breath. "Then maybe our killer is part of the Adopt-a –Forest crowd and they clean up after themselves?"

Batwoman thanked Deputy Johnson for his help and finished telling Dark Flash to make his way back. She looked up into the sky; the sun was starting to go down and she could just make out the figure of Hawkgirl circling above like a giant vulture.

The forest was so different from the jungle of Gotham City. The air was damp, but somehow refreshing. "You like it here?" Titan asked. He had an apple in his hand.

"It's pretty, but it isn't home," she replied.

He nodded. "That's basically how I feel here in the land of my father. The United States is fascinating, but it is not Greece. It is far too mundane here."

"Alright, Plato, have you got anything useful to tell me?" she asked.

He took a bite of the apple and began to detail the report that Hawkman had sent. Batwoman had been too busy giving directions to Hawkgirl and Dark Flash to deal with it, so Titan had been assigned the task. "Tomorrow Woman used the Guild computers often; the logs indicate she was very interested in all forms of biological life, from human to fish."

"Seeing that she was an artificial construct, maybe she was trying to understand what sentience was?" Batwoman speculated. "If so, would she have differentiated between human and animal life?"

"I cannot answer that question, Aunt Helena, as I did not know this…person. I did take the liberty of reading up on the personal comments made by the members of the Guild and all of them agreed she was personable, helpful individual," Titan told her. "My impression is that she wanted to know if she was alive."

"Or it was an elaborate ruse to throw everyone off," Batwoman countered. "If she was created by T.O. Morrow, then we cannot take anything for granted. My father was quite clear about the danger that man posed to humanity."

Dark Flash appeared at their side, a gust of wind following him. He reached out and took the apple away from Titan. "Thanks, kid," he remarked as he downed the fruit.

"I'm glad I wasn't urinating," Titan told him sarcastically, looking at his empty hand.

"Give it up, kid, you aren't my type," Dark Flash told him. He turned his attention to Batwoman. "All right, what now?"

"Hip?"

Titan handed his Strawberry over. "We know that Tomorrow Woman was very interested in a series of crimes against zoo animals that occurred at the Portland Zoo."

Dark Flash nodded. "I'll check this lead out. What are your plans?"

"Hawkgirl is checking from the air to see if there are any areas that look like more mass graves. After that, we are heading back to the sheriff's office to get a couple of deputies and rangers to go with us deeper into the forest." Batwoman put a hand on Dark Flash's shoulder. "The sooner you can get us any more leads, the better. She came out here for a reason and it got her killed."

"Technically, it is deactivated, since she was never truly alive," Titan pointed out.

"That remains to be seen," Dark Flash told him grimly.

_**Gotham City, New Jersey**_

"I guess the two of you think you're special now," Batgirl grumbled.

Nightwing looked over at Huntress, who merely shrugged. Batgirl had continued to gripe about not being selected for the Guild since the night Batwoman had announced the results of the elections. The time for feeling bad for her was long since past and now the two of them, along with Black Robin, were trying to decide the best way to let her know it was time to shut up.

Black Robin said shoving her off a building would send a clear message, while Huntress wanted to counsel her. Nightwing felt that telling her to shut her mouth would be sufficient. "Kathy, we need to concentrate on the mission at hand," Nightwing reminded her.

That seemed to put an end to the current drama and Batgirl slowly moved away to go back to her observation post. It was important they maintain their surveillance because they did not know when the threat would strike. An informant had let Nightwing know that police commissioner Barbara Gordon had a contract out on her, but there was no known reason why. Certainly as a law enforcement officer she was a target, but she had done nothing in the recent past to warrant such attention.

Nightwing was very familiar with the commissioner; he had known her when she was the original Batgirl. Her secret identity was not known to the other members of the team and he was taking extra care to ensure that he did not accidentally reveal it. That was one of the core rules of the Justice Guild: secret identities were secret.

At one time, he thought she would have become his sister-in-law because she had been completely in love with Dick Grayson. Grayson ended up breaking her heart, marrying Wonder Woman's younger sister, Donna. Very soon afterwards, Barbara Gordon gave up being Batgirl and dropped out of sight. She emerged a decade later, assuming a position in the GCPD upper echelons.

In the time she had been back, he had very little contact with her. His brother's rejection of her had obviously wounded her deeply.

"I still don't understand how your informant came across this information, Jason," Huntress said in a low tone. "The murder of a political figure seems a little out of our league."

"I'm not sure I would call Babs a political figure, but then again, you might be right," he responded. Inwardly, he cursed himself for not asking the same question. If this were a mob hit, then it would make sense, but there was no longer any organized crime in Gotham City. His brother had taken down the Penguin a few years back, ending the last so-called mafia dynasty. "You think this is a trap?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" she asked in return. "If her life is in danger, are we not obligated to due our utmost to see to her safety?"

"Sure…"

"Then you will understand that what I'm trying to get across is that perhaps your informant has it out for you and not the commissioner," she said. To her, everything was part of a larger conspiracy because that was what she had been raised to believe in. She knew for a fact there was a secret war going on between good and evil that most super-heroes only dreamt about in their worst nightmares.

For the Huntress, nothing was ever what it seemed.

"I am merely expressing concern for a friend," she confided.

He blushed. Huntress was becoming more of a sister to him than Helena and for that he was glad. "Can I ask you a question…a morality type of question?"

She nodded. "By all means; I would be very glad to answer your question with what the Church teaches."

"I'm not Catholic…"

"Yes, but I am confident the Lord will forgive you of that in time," she said with a smile. "Go ahead," she goaded.

"If you aren't actually related by blood, can you be in love?"

She knew immediately what he was talking about because if she was anything, she was observant. Also, she could feel emotions around her and she had noted the nervousness in Nightwing whenever he got around Batwoman. "The two of you were not raised together, were you?"

"No, but I was introduced to her as her 'new little brother' by Bruce," he whispered. "I remember I was thirteen at the time and she was twenty and I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen." His eyes took on a faraway look as he brought the memories forth. "Dick saw it and used to give me the worst hell about it because he said Helena used to look at him the same way. He said I would grow out of it."

She started to reply when she noted movement below and through the front door of the city municipal building appeared a female figure. Barbara Gordon was a pretty woman on the good side of forty. Her red hair, which had been a trademark of the Batgirl (a tradition still being held onto by the current one), was down loose and straight, giving her the appearance of youth. Huntress noted that she seemed to be in good physical shape as well.

"I believe that is your friend," Huntress whispered before making hand signals to the rest of the team. They had, of course, warned the commissioner of the threat, for all of the good that it did. Nightwing had noted a tone of hostility towards him, but he supposed it was because of his brother. Then again, he told himself as he reached down to ensure his shuriken were in place, maybe Commissioner Gordon simply did not like costumed heroes anymore.

He had checked before they had returned to Gotham City and noted that Batgirl had given up her Guild membership shortly after his brother's wedding.

The bad part was he really did not blame her. He understood what it was to be in love with someone and to feel rejected. For years he had been ashamed of his feelings for Helena, but at the same time he also rationalized that she was only his sister legally and that was all. There was nothing incestuous about his feelings, except when he voiced them aloud to someone who didn't know the situation.

He gritted his teeth and told himself to focus. He gestured to Black Robin, letting her know it was her time to move. The black clad adventurer gave him a thumbs-up and blew him a kiss before rolling over the side of the building. He did not need to look; he knew she was even now silently moving along the fire escape to keep watch in the alleyway directly across from the municipal building.

Batgirl also knew her role and she went to the back of the building they were on to see if any type of strange vehicles were sitting on the street, waiting to rocket ahead and perform a drive-by shooting of the commissioner.

"Target," Huntress said, punching him in the arm.

Across the road they saw the glint of a sniper scope in the window. Nightwing was very impressed; the angle of the shot would allow for no mistake whatsoever. Whoever the assassin was, they were very confident of their abilities.

There was no need for talk. Huntress jumped from the rooftop, her enhanced reflexes and strength carrying her through the air and down to the ground without any issue. It was only a four-story drop after all!

She landed just as the shot rang out. Moving faster than a normal human could, she pulled out her sword, a weapon she had forged herself as part of her Titan training, and smacked the projectile away just as several GCPD SWAT team members burst out of the surrounding buildings.

The deflected bullet ricocheted from building to building, but the Huntress was already moving. Her senses reached out and she felt nothing but rage coming from the approaching cops. They were somehow convinced that she was attacking the commissioner and they meant to take her down.

Barbara Gordon pulled out her service revolver and put it to the head of Huntress. "Drop it, toots," she said.

Huntress felt the killer's presence even as Nightwing swung across the street towards the building. She closed her eyes and reached for the vampyric abilities that she had, but did not have complete control of. As a former Titan, she had been trained to understand how the vampire's abilities worked, but it had never covered what would happen if the mental transfer of some of those traits activated dormant metagenes.

When she opened her eyes, the world was made up of various shades of red and waves of emotion emanated off of anything that was alive. She did not have to see that Barbara Gordon was radiating anger, it burned on her like a small sun. Further away she felt the fear and anxiety of the police officers as they moved in to position. Nightwing and the rest of the heroes were a jumble of emotions as each went about their part of the plan.

The killer, however, was cool. No, not cool…cold. Huntress sensed nothing human in her emotions, she was a void, almost supernatural.

A pull on the trigger and Huntress moved.

She spun, bringing her leg up and kicking the pistol away. Gordon was not taken completely by surprise as she managed to throw out her own front kick towards her knee. Huntress punched down hard and Gordon felt pain race from her shin to her eyeballs even as a bullet zipped past her ears. "What the hell?" she called out even as she fell back.

SWAT team members started firing at a window in the building, the bullets turning several windows into showers of glass that rained on the street below. Nightwing, who was on the ledge and ready to make his entrance, took a slug in the shoulder. The police were not identifying friend or foe; everyone who was not a cop was a target.

His costume protected him from being penetrated by the bullet, but it knocked him off balance and he fell off the ledge. As he started to drop, he wondered of Huntress had been correct and he had been set-up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Beyond the 52 Issue 5**  
By Christopher W. Blaine ()

_New Kids on the Block Part 4_

_**Portland, Oregon**_  
"Technically, we are the Oregon Zoo, not Portland," the attractive, blond animal handler explained as she and Dark Flash walked towards the administrative offices. "Most people make that mistake."  
Dark Flash merely grunted in reply; he was in no mood to receive a crash course in west coast animal retreats, regardless of how cute the instructor was. Her figure reminded him of Linda and that caused a small ache in his chest. Even after all of this time, he still had not completely gotten over her loss.  
Being the girlfriend of a super-hero was a crappy job he told himself; it ended up getting you killed and after she had been killed, he had made the vow he would never put another human being in such a position again. He did not understand any of his teammates, even those who chose mates in the same vocation. Loving someone was directly opposed to the concept of justice because those who rebelled against it would not hesitate to hurt the ones you cared about most.  
The blond continued to ramble on but he refused to focus on her. Instead he breathed deep the smells of the zoo. Concrete, smog, feces, urine and animal sweat. It reminded him of his youth and his visits to such a place with his aunt Iris. He found himself longing for those carefree days before the lightning bolt had changed his life and given him his powers.  
They reached a set of buildings made of brick and glass with posters highlighting and current and future events. All around it milled workers in khakis and the blond led him to a gangly, youthful looking man with a pock-marked face. "Dr. Drew," she announced, "the Flash is here."  
Dark Flash stepped past her, slightly miffed she could not get his name correct and extended his hand. There was no sense being rude, after all. "That's Dark Flash," he corrected.  
Dr. Drew's hand was cold and clammy, but there was a hidden strength to it. "I've followed your career," he said, but without any excitement.  
Pulling his hand away, he fell into step with the primate specialist as they left the blond behind. "I'm surprised that another super-hero is wanting to get involved with this," Dr. Drew commented.  
"So, Tomorrow Woman was here?"  
The scientist nodded. "About two years ago, back when the trouble was at its worst."  
"The trouble?" Dark Flash asked.  
They stepped into another building that was attached to what appeared to be the "monkey house". The smell seemed to confirm it to the hero. "About two and a half years ago, a female chimpanzee was murdered."  
Dark Flash hesitated from explaining you could not murder an animal; murder was a crime reserved for humans. Still, killing an animal for no reason was still a crime, but he was not so sure it was worthy of Justice Guild attention. He knew there had to be much more to the story if Tomorrow Woman had gotten involved. "What were the circumstances surrounding the…murder?" he asked, probing further.  
They moved across a lab, past other workers and went to an office marked something or other related to being head of the primate department. Once inside, Dr. Drew closed the door. Dark Flash did not bother to comment on how nobody seemed surprised to see someone in skintight red and silver come walking through their work space. He understood these people were not interested in hairless monkeys.  
"Someone had unlocked the display, removed the female, locked the display back up…raped the female and then strangled her," Dr. Drew said as he plopped into his desk chair.  
Dark Flash coughed. "Raped? Who the hell rapes a chimp?"  
Dr. Drew started typing on the keyboard of a notebook computer on the desk. "I'm pulling up the file so you can look at the evidence because whenever I tell anyone, they always think I'm lying." After a few moments he stabbed a key with his finger and a laser printer came to life next to the Dark Flash.  
He grabbed the printout and looked it over. Before he could say anything, Dr. Drew continued. "A week later a female gorilla was attacked and killed and the alpha male was beaten within an inch of his life." More pages printed out and were quickly read. They chronicled what appeared to be a systematic wave of sexual terrorism perpetrated on nearly every breed of monkey and ape found at the Oregon Zoo.  
All of the evidence collected indicated the crimes were committed by a gorilla and because of that, the local police refused to become involved. After all, what would they do? Put the gorilla in jail?  
"Why didn't you post guards and security cameras?"  
Dr. Drew shook his head. "Tomorrow Woman asked the same questions and I gave her the same answers. We hired extra security but they proved to be incompetent because they claimed never to have seen anything even when we knew the crimes had been committed."  
He further explained the security cameras had been turned off by the guards as well. "It was almost as if they were under mind control if you believed their stories."  
The most extreme of expletives escaped from the lips of the hero, causing Dr. Drew's jaw to hang open.  
"I have to go," the Dark Flash said.

_**Gotham City, New Jersey**_  
A green bubble of energy caught Nightwing as he felt and protected him from any damage. In the air above him, the newest Green Lantern smiled. "Hey, there teammate!" Kyle Rayner called out. The latest in a long line of honorable ring slingers, the comic book artist was a reluctant hero at best. The Guild had always had a Green Lantern and so when he was randomly picked to succeed John Stewart, it was expected he would become a member of the Guild.  
By keeping a Green Lantern in the Guild, the hope was to minimize the involvement of the extraterrestrial police force in Earth's affairs. "What are you doing here?" Nightwing asked as he was lowered to the ground. All around him, hell was breaking loose. Huntress was battling the GCPD while Black Robin was nowhere to be seen. Batgirl was seemingly frozen in place, unsure if she should help her friends or listen to the police.  
All the while, the assassin was firing into the mayhem. "Hawkman contacted me and asked if I could help out. Seems the GCPD was aware of the assassination attempt and had laid out a trap for it. The feds just got around to telling us."  
Nightwing felt sick; the breakdown of communication was so uncharacteristic of the way the Guild had worked in the past. Was it a reflection of the new leadership, or a growing trend of resentment towards so many untested heroes?  
Another bullet went by Nightwing's face and he rolled away. Above him, Green Lantern made a fist with his ring hand. Emerald sparks flew as his willpower geared up. "Get the commissioner to safety," Green Lantern told him. "I'll get the shooter!"  
"No, wait!" Nightwing cried out. Green Lantern was still so very inexperienced and they still did not know what they were up against. The situation was now out of control as cops stormed past Nightwing and started breaking down the door to the building the shooter was in.  
Two shots rang out and two police officers went down, blood spurting from neck wounds. "Damn it!" he cried out as he reached for his JGA Strawberry. Another crack of gunfire and the device exploded in his hand.

Only a couple of yards away, Huntress faced off against the older Barbara Gordon. "You need to stand down and get out of the way!" Gordon told her.  
Huntress was surprised by how quickly the other woman moved. It was obvious she had received more than just police academy training in hand-to-hand combat. "We are trying to protect you, Miss Gordon."  
Barbara blocked a punch and threw one of her own. Huntress blocked it, but it hurt. "Why don't you let the trained people handle this instead of a bunch of kids!"  
Three shot rang out and both women stopped dead in their tracks. They turned to see two cops on the ground, clutching their throats and Nightwing holding his hand. Above him, a green streak of light raced into the window where the shots had been coming from.

Green Lantern burst through the window, taking a good portion of the wall with him. In his mind, he pictured the assassin startled and dropping their weapon. Instead, as the dust from the destroyed plaster and wood began to settle, he saw he was confronting a beautiful woman.  
She was stunning; there was no other way to describe her. Her hair was dark and pulled up into a ponytail and her eyes were covered by darkened shooter's glasses. Her uniform was tight, showing off a flawless figure. Despite himself, he knew he was immediately attracted to her.  
And that was what she had been expecting.  
Her intelligence had been correct; he was far too young to be in possession of such a powerful device like a power ring. His eyes drifted to her chest and that had also been part of her plan. Young men were predictable as she had learned over the course of her career. She detected the shimmering of the force field around him as his concentration was removed momentarily from the fight to her attributes.  
Inwardly she smiled even as she quickly drew a specially designed pistol. She pulled the trigger and fired.  
Green Lantern's last thoughts were a mixture of sexual tension, excitement and dread.

Huntress stumbled forward. She felt the rise in coldness from the assassin and then the joy even as she sensed the death of her teammate. She tasted blood in the air, from the police and from Green Lantern and she dropped to her knees as she was overwhelmed by it all.  
Barbara took a moment to glance at her and then shook her head. She ran to where her officers had just broken down the door.

_**Davenport, Washington**_  
"Do you smell that?" Titan asked. He, Batwoman and Hawkgirl were marching through the forest, following one final lead. Allegedly, the path they were on had been the scene of several Bigfoot sightings over the last few years. None of them believed in the creature, but they all knew they could not discount the idea either. "Smells like someone rubbed a skunk in cow crap."  
"How can you be eloquent one moment and sound like a ten-year old the next?" Hawkgirl asked. She was really not enjoying their march as her wings kept getting caught on low hanging branches. "I thought you had a classical education."  
"Indeed I did, but I am also my father's son and he, despite his wealth, is a normal guy," Titan said with a smile.  
Behind them, Batwoman chuckled. Titan had definitely been a good choice for the team, but it should have been expected. He had the best super-hero upbringing possible and all of the members of the Guild knew it. He got along well with just about anyone and she had to admit, her nephew was sometimes just fun to have around. "I smell it, too, but we are in the middle of the forest. It could be anything, including us. I mean, who really goes marching through the wilderness in a costume?"  
Titan stopped and turned to his aunt, He opened his mouth to speak when Hawkgirl gave a scream. He whirled around to see a large, hairy creature some ten yards ahead of them on the path. He massive man-beast was partially hid by shadows, but it was easy to see it was as big as Titan.  
"Get behind me," Titan said as he immediately stepped to the front. Hawkgirl did not argue; the start she had received now starting to wear off. "I'll see if I can communicate with it in a language it understands!"  
"Titan!" Batwoman called out. She did not want him rushing into battle, but he was youthful and headstrong, plus he was as tough as a tank!  
He ignored her and instead ran at the Sasquatch. Halfway there, he stopped and grabbed the sides of his head. "Get out! Get out!" he cried in vain.  
Slowly the hero turned back around to face his aunt and teammate. His eyes were glazed over, giving the impression he was on some sort of drug. Sweat was pouring down his face and behind him the Sasquatch laughed maniacally. The mirth indicated far more intelligence than its brutish appearance would have been immediately apparent.  
"Uh, this is not good," Hawkgirl said, frantically looking around above them. There were far too many trees in this part of the woods for her to get to the air.  
Batwoman nodded and reached back for her Batarang. Her mind was racing through the situation, digging deep as she remembered all of the files her father had kept on villains, monsters and oddities. A name came to her mind even as Titan lumbered forward as if he were doing a poor impression of the Frankenstein monster.  
"Grodd!"  
"Very good, Batwoman!" the primate called out. He looked far different than the last images taken of him, some ten years before. His hair was shaggy and covered in dirt and leaves. There was a lot of gray hair, too. There was no mistaking the intelligence in his eyes, however. "What a shame that you will have to die after demonstrating such high deductive reasoning. You are indeed your father's daughter."  
She started to reply, to ask him how he knew, but she reasoned that when he took control of Titan's mind he learned everything he knew. Obviously the ape's powers had been growing over the years. She was desperate to recall his history, to try and discover the reason why he was here in the middle of the forests of Washington state.  
"Batwoman?" Hawkgirl asked as she pulled out her mace. The weapon had been modified with a small electrical generator to give it a little extra power.  
"We have no choice," Batwoman told her as she threw the Batarang. "Take him down!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Beyond the 52 Issue 6**  
By Christopher W. Blaine ()

_New Kids on the Block Part 5_

_**Davenport, Washington**_  
Batwoman did not hesitate to let the Batarang fly; she knew it would do little harm against her nephew except maybe distract him. The distraction would give Hawkgirl the opportunity to strike at Titan with her enhanced weapon and superior strength. Again, she knew it was a futile gesture, but she needed time to figure out what to do.  
For his part, Titan did exactly as expected which was bat (no pun inteded) the weapon out of the way. From his mother he had gained reflexes beyond that of the common person and he most likely could have grabbed it out of the air. Hawkgirl let out a fierce battle cry, probably something she had been taught by Hawkman, and rushed at the young hero.  
Her mace hummed as she swung and had it been anybody else, it would have been a helluva blow Batwoman told herself. As it was, Titan put up a meaty forearm to ward off the blow and it was more than what Hawkgirl had expected. Batwoman found that she was evaluating her teammate's fighting ability even as she was in grave danger.  
There was a loud crack as the mace connected with magically-enhanced skin. For Hawkgirl, I was like hitting a steel pipe with an aluminum baseball bat; her arms immediately began to ache. "That was not the smartest thing I've ever done," she remarked as she stumbled back.  
"Kill the females," Grodd cried out, ordering Titan forward. Batwoman realized out of the two foes they currently faced, Grodd was the weakest and trying to take down her nephew was only going to get them hurt.  
The Caped Crusader's daughter whirled around and drew her line gun. Pulling the trigger, she launched a grappling line into the limbs of a tall tree. Just before Titan could grab her, she was pulled up into the branches.  
"Run all you want, Batwoman, you will still die!"  
Batwoman swore under her breath as she landed on a sturdy outcropping from the main trunk. Twenty feet below her, Hawkgirl tried attacking Titan's well-muscled buttocks. Surprisingly, it illicited a response as the young hero gave a small grunt. A look of shock crossed his face, as if he could not believe someone would have the audacity to attack him so.  
As Titan turned, Grodd sneared and looked to some trees to the right of Batwoman's position. Alone in the wild for the past decade, he must have worked his simian abilities to their maximum. With little effort, he jumped up, grabbed a low hanging branch and started swinging up through the forest, moving closer and closer to her position.  
Grodd had last been seen battling Dark Flash, then going by the Flash. If she remembered correctly, the beating the gorilla had received had been monumental. He had driven the Scarlet Speedster into a rage that foreshadowed the transformation the hero would later take. Grodd had been humiliated like never before; the gorrila had always been convinced of his own superiority.  
To be physically beaten by a "lesser primate" had been too much for him to bear. Obviously he had escaped to the northwest.  
She wanted to use her communicator to contact Dark Flash, but it would waste prescious seconds.A handful of flash-bang grenades flew from her gauntleted hand in the direction of the ape. As they went off, Grodd slowed and swerved. He must have lost some concentration on Titan, she noted, because the big hero started to stumble.  
"Keep Titan busy, Hawkgirl," Batwoman called as she started to jump to another tree branch. The daughter of the original Batman was no stranger to this type of battle. The woods on the Wayne estate had often times served as a psuedo battle ground for bother her and the children Batman had taken under his wing.  
"Easy for you to say! You're up there and I'm down here!" Hawkgirl called back as she swung for a thigh. There was a crack of electrical discharge and Titan dropped to one knee.  
Batwoman did not acknowledge because a sixth sense told her to duck. A hairy arm swiped the air where her head had been. "You are a bad, little monkey, Batwoman," Grodd snarled. Batwoman had to supress her gag reflex; the gorilla smelled horrible. Obviously, he had not bothered to bathe for several years. "Gorilla Grodd was content to live out his life in peace, away from you humans!"  
"You have crimes to answer for still, Grodd," she replied as she moved to a lower branch. Grodd was on her in half a second and too late she realized she was way out of her element after all.  
His massive hand grabbed her upper arm and would not let go. Batwoman had not felt such strength since her last battle with Killer Croc. She reached for her utility belt; there was a sonic grenade she kept for special cases, but Grodd read her mind and caught her free hand.  
Balancing himself on a thick branch, he raised her up to face him eye to eye. She finally got a better look at him and what she saw horrified her. There was an almost alien intelligence in his eyes, but the eye sockets were deformed. Grodd's entire face was misshapen, not at all like that of a typical primate. The scars he bore were the results of the fractures incurred from the beating he had received ten years before.  
A thick black tongue licked rotted canines. "I have more crimes to commit, it seems," he answered.  
Grodd began to squeeze and Batwoman gasped at the raw strength he possessed. Then it seemed as if her body had fallen asleep and she assumed she was dying. The tingling stopped and she found herself in a part of the woods she did not recognize.  
The Dark Flash slowed down their vibrations, absorbing kinetic energy from her body before she exploded. "Wait here," he told her.  
In the blink of an eye he was gone and then back, setting Hawkgirl down.  
"Grodd!" Batwoman blurted out.  
Dark Flash nodded. "I know. He's my problem now, a loose end from my past."  
Then he was gone.

Grodd did not understand what had happened to Batwoman and briefly considered she had used a teleportation device to get away. He remembered the Guild had once had a headquarters in space that was accessed using such technology. How long ago had that been, he wondered. How long had he been in the woods, hiding in shame from his failure to destroy the Flash?  
Gorilla Grodd had fought the Guild for years, going up against the best they had to offer. He had battled Superman and Green Lantern! The true Flash, Barry Allen, had been his mortal enemy! Then he had crossed some hidden line with Allen's successor, the next Flash, and he had been beaten within an inch of his life.  
Heroes were not supposed to do that! Grodd's intellect, controlled by his all-encompassing ego, could not grasp the fact the Flash's unbendable moral code had been breached. Everything Grodd had held to be true came into question and his mind had snapped.  
He caught a thought from Titan and a deep, sharp cold traveled down the gorilla's spine. He looked down and the slightly wounded Titan was standing in front of someone in a variant of the Flash's costume. "Keep back, Hip," the man said.  
Grodd dropped to the ground in a crouch. Slowly he stood up to his full height, intent on destroying the newest Flash. "You are the inheritor of a destiny of death," Grodd said coldly.  
Dark Flash was not quick to turn in order to face his old foe. "Yes, on that you and I agree, Grodd."  
The gorilla came up short and his mental link with Titan was broken. The large hero fell forward, face first, into a pile of deer dung. "You!"  
The speedster allowed a grim smile to cross his face. "You have no idea how much I have changed, Grodd. If you thought I was angry before, then you are in for a very, very bad surprise."  
Fear, horror and revulsion welled up inside Grodd and he attacked the Dark Flash with a blast of telepathic energy. It smashed into the iron will of the hero and crumbled into nothingness. In all of his years, never had Grodd come up against such a single-minded desire to accomplish a task. Not even against the celebrated Green Lantern, Hal Jordan.  
Then came the Dark Flash's assault. At a speed faster than the eye could follow, punches and kicks landed all over Grodd's massive body. The pain brought back dark memories, and the primate howled in frustration.  
Titan rolled out of the dung, spitting out matter and twigs. Anger welled up inside him as he remembered his mind being controlled. His butt and his knee throbed; Hawkgirl must have had her mace set on full power he mused.  
He looked over and saw a red cloud enveloping the big monkey they had discovered. Some of it was blood, but the rest could only be the Dark Flash. He was literally beating the ape to death. Titan got up and moved closer knowing he had to stop his teammate from doing something he would later regret. Taking a deep breath, he called upon the power of the gods that flowed through him. The Dark Flash may have been connected to the Speed Force, but Titan was the son of Donna Troy, the twin sister of Wonder Woman.  
He reached into the crimson maelstrom and caught hold of Dark Flash's arm. Only magically-enhanced muscles could perform such a feat. "What the hell?" Dark Flash said.  
Grodd slumped to the ground, out cold and bleeding from several wounds. "Uncle Walter, what the heck are you doing?" Titan asked. Walter West had once been the best friend of Titan's father, hence he was often referred to in private as "uncle" by the Olympian.  
Dark Flash pulled himself out of the grasp. "I'm taking care of something I should have dealt with a long time ago. Because I didn't kill Grodd, all of those hikers died!"  
"Damn it! You can't keep doing this to yourself!" Titan growled. "I miss Linda, too, but that doesn't give you carte blanche to do...this!" he exclaimed, pointing to the bleeding Grodd. Linda Park had been a bright beacon in so many lives that her death truly had made the world, and not just her boyfriend, a little more dark. "This is Gorilla Grodd? This is the one you used to talk about? It seems to me he's responsible for his own actions!"  
"You sound too damn much like your dad," Dark Flash said, stepping back and turning around. Blood dripped from his clenched fists. "You just don't get it, kid. When you put on the costume, when you think of the fancy name, you become responsible not just for your actions, but for your inactions as well."  
"The Guild doesn't kill. That's what your uncle Barry said," Titan reminded him. Barry Allen was considered something of a saint or martyr, depending on your point of view, in Guild history. Many of the by-laws and regulations had been written or revised by him before his death.  
"Barry was known to be wrong once in awhile," Dark Flash commented. "You want to take Grodd in, go ahead. Don't come crying to me when he kills someone you love."

_**Gotham City, New Jersey**_  
Killer Frost had already escaped by the time Nightwing had pulled himself away from the warm corpse of Kyle Rayner. Two GCPD officers had paid the ultimate price for crossing paths with her. The young hero stood at the wall where Green Lantern had burst through and searched the floor.  
Though she was physically shaken by the death of their teammate, the Huntress had enough sense to have Nightwing look for Rayner's missng power ring. Neither of them was well-versed in Lantern lore, so they had no idea what happened to the weapon when its wielder died. There was no sign of it anywhere, but Nightwing was not sure if that was a problem.  
As Rayner's body was placed in a body bag, Barbara Gordon pinched the bridge of her nose. "He was a damn kid! I can't believe how low the Guild has sunk!" She looked at the Huntress, who was visibly pale. Gordon had no idea that the woman was suffering in two ways. For one, she had felt the last emotions of Kyle Rayner. Second, the sight of the dead body and the blood was secretly exciting her.  
Gordon did not notice how the Huntress kept a closed hand over the cross at the neck of her costume. "I'm telling you right now, your activities in Gotham City are over. You tell Batwoman I want to see her immediately." Then she turned and pointed to two figures on a rooftop three blocks away. "And you especially keep those minors out of costume and back in school!"  
Huntress wanted to protest; only Batgirl was a minor, but she could not speak. She had never felt so many emotions at once. Rayner had been so full of energy, pride and enthusiasm, but then overwhelming fear had permeated his soul as he died. Then came the hunger and the lust, those vampire traits Huntress had tried to keep buried.  
All she could do is nod as Nightwing stepped up. Gordon looked at him and was about to say something, but decided against it.  
It was another fifteen minutes before the Huntress could be pried from the death scene.


End file.
